She turned to him, fingers slipping under the hem of his shirt. He raised his arms, letting her undress him without a word. His chest, carved with muscle and layered in ink, caught her eye, but she quickly looked away.
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
“The assignment tonight is to sleep,” she said, finally meeting his eyes. “You can take the bed. I’ll sleep in another room.”
His face twisted into a mild scowl as she turned to leave, but before she could walk away, he reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Lay with me.”
Even he wasn’t expecting those words.
She froze. Her shock was all over her face. “I can’t do that… Hassan.”
He understood. She was trying to keep a line intact, but they’d crossed that line a long time ago.
“We ain’t gotta touch,” he said, the words sticking in his throat. “I just need—”
He couldn’t even finish. Saying things like this felt unnatural. Like he was ripping pieces of armor off one by one. But he didn’t want to be alone tonight.
Sevyn stared at him for a long moment before sighing.
“Okay, Hassan. But stay on your side of the bed,” she warned, trying to sound firm.
It made him smirk.
They slipped under the covers, and she turned the lights off. Sevyn kept to her side, a safe distance between them. Hassan did the same, though everything in him wanted to turn toward her.
Minutes passed.
Then came the sound of her soft snores, delicate and real. It made his chest rise and fall with something close to peace.
He lay there, staring at the full moon pouring light into the room through her massive windows, its glow casting a soft silver on the walls.
He couldn’t believe where he was.
In another woman’s bed—a woman he hadn’t even touched. But one who made him feel everything.
For the first time in weeks… maybe months… sleep came easy. And it was all because of her.
Chapter 16
The brightness of the sun blaring through Sevyn’s windows made Hassan squint before his eyes slowly adjusted. He tried to shift, but Sevyn’s head was resting on his chest, her leg draped across his body like she was trying to hold him in place.
He looked down and chuckled softly to himself.
She had been so adamant about him staying on his side of the bed, but clearly, she couldn’t follow her own rules. Sevyn was a wild sleeper—went to bed one way and woke up completely different. Still, he didn’t mind. Not at all.
The warmth of her skin against his… the soft, steady rhythm of her breathing… it calmed him in a way nothing ever had.
For the first time since he was a baby, Hassan had slept through the night. Deep sleep. The kind that left no dreams and no demons. Usually, he was up before the sun even thought about rising, but not this morning.
Whether it was her presence, the feel of her soft sheets, or the quiet safety wrapped around him—he felt peace.
He looked down at her again, her hair wild across his chest, her mouth slightly open. Even with her hair wild and her mouth agape, she still looked beautiful. Dangerously beautiful. He wanted to lay like this forever.
And that scared the shit out of him.
He didn’t do this. Didn’t sleep in a woman’s bed. Didn’t let a woman lay on him. This was unfamiliar territory—uncharted, untested, and unsettling.